Expert: Vic Winnek - 9/23/2010

Question
When is a receiver's foot considered down and in bounds when any part of the foot touches inbounds before the rest of his foot or does the whole foot have to come down inbounds?

Answer
Stephen,
As officials we are concerned with whether the receiver's foot was inbounds while he possessed the ball.  We do not specifically concern ourselves with how this foot was pointing, we are only concerned with the position of the foot (toe, heel or any part of the foot) in relation to the sideline or endline.

If the receiver's toes are inbounds, and he maintains control of the ball after contact with the ground. If the scenario was a little different - the receiver goes striaght up in the air, his toes hit inbounds, but with continuous movement his heels hit o/b, the pass is incomplete.  Take a look at this play, it is a catch:  http://video.yahoo.com/watch/5147258/13627936

For there to be a completion, there must be a catch as deined by rule 7-3-6.  A catch is an act of firmly establishing player possession of a live ball in flight.  To catch a ball, a player who leaves his feet to make a catch must have the ball firmly in his possession when he first returns to the ground inbounds with any part of his body or is so held that the dead-ball provisions of Rule 4-1-3-p apply (A.R. 2-2-7-I-V and A.R. 7-3-6-IV).

If one foot first lands inbounds and the receiver has possession
and control of the ball, it is a catch even though a subsequent step or fall takes the receiver out of bounds.  It is an incomplete pass when a player leaves his feet and receives the pass but first lands on or outside a boundary line, unless his progress has been stopped in the field of play or end zone.

CONSIDER THESE PLAYS as examples of completion/incompletion:

An airborne player receives a forward pass and returns to the ground inbounds with the ball in his possession. Ruling: If he has firm possession of the ball, it is a catch even though a subsequent step or fall takes him out of bounds.

Airborne A46 receives a legal forward pass above Team B's end zone and near the sideline. He is driven backward by B10 to the one-yard line, where he lands on the sideline. RULING: Incomplete forward pass

Airborne A83 receives a legal forward pass deep in Team B's end zone. He would have come down inbounds, but he lands beyond the end line after being pushed by B15. RULING: Incomplete forward pass

Play near the sideline. The receiver goes up gets the ball, controls it, comes down with one foot in bounds. In going to the ground out of bounds the ball slides loose and the receiver re-controls the ball before hitting out of bounds. Ruling: Incomplete pass. In the process of completing a catch the receiver must touch in bounds after gaining final control.